NEWARK, N.J. -- Throughout the regular season, the Devils skated with a boulder-sized chip on their collective shoulders, taking on a distinct "us against the world" mentality, ultimately enjoying proving doubters wrong by earning their way into the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in six years, all on the heels of a last-place finish a year ago.

So, it was no surprise when the Devils showed plenty of confidence Tuesday in the lead-up to their first-round series against the Eastern Conference regular-season champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

"We're hungry for more," 19-year-old rookie Nico Hischier said following practice at the Prudential Center, two days before Game One down in Tampa.

The team's best player, Taylor Hall, took it a step further.

After acknowledging the Lightning's considerable skill-set and talent level, Hall calmly pointed out, "They have a lot of things to be scared about with our team. We're fast and quick and we present challenges for them, as well."

Safe to say the Devils are not scared of the mighty Lightning, though, there is much respect for their first-round opponent, as well there should be. Devils coach John Hynes and many of his players were quick to point out Tuesday the fact that the Lightning had the most potent offense in the league in 2017-18, roll four very impressive forward lines, have a mobile and deep defense corps that solidified even more with the acquisition of Ryan McDonagh and is backstopped by the capable Andrei Vasilevskiy.

But in an environment where the Devils closed ranks all season long, the main sentiment drawn from being around this group is that Game One, specifically, and the series, in general, has more to do with them than the Lightning. And they seriously believe they can beat this serious Stanley Cup contender.

"We believe in ourselves," stated Brian Boyle, a veteran of 106 career post-season games -- far and away the most on this Devils team.

"We know it's the best against the best now. It's something we're excited about. We have the utmost confidence."

Added defenseman John Moore, Boyle's teammate on the Rangers team which reached the 2014 Stanley Cup Final and again with the resurgent Devils this season, "The playoffs is a new season, we're all equals now. It's about us in here, leaning on each other and believing in each other."

The Devils swept their three-game season series with the Lightning -- three one-goal victories, two in regulation and the other in a shootout. Overall, New Jersey played some of their best hockey against the better teams in the league, including taking three of four from division-rival Pittsburgh.

"We can take some confidence from that," said Hall. "We played against the top teams all year, and played well. No matter who we play (in the playoffs) it'll be in the back of our minds that we played well against the better teams."